by Deborah Shefler
Part of a series celebrating the LWVO's century of service to the Oakland community and some of the volunteers who made it happen: Mary Bergan, Betty Ann Bruno, Kathleen Cha, Bonnie Hamlin, Anna Mathai, Ernestine Nettles, Barbara Newcombe, Mary Strauss, Wilhelmine Yoakum
Libby inherited allegiance to the League from her mother, an active member. She was herself active in the LWVO, and has many times noted that her League experience was one of the things that led her into politics.
An Oakland native, she attended Head-Royce and Skyline High. Following a few years of legal practice, she became a program director for the Marcus A. Foster Educational Institute, creating and running a centralized volunteer program for the Oakland schools. She first joined local government as a legislative aide to Oakland City Council president Ignacio De La Fuente, and then as special assistant to Mayor Jerry Brown. In 2006 she became Director of Public Affairs for the Port of Oakland. In 2009, Schaaf graduated from Emerge California, a training program for Democratic women who aspire to elected office.
District 4 voters elected her to two terms on the City Council in 2010 and 2012. She then won two terms as Mayor, initially with almost ⅔ of the vote and then with a 27% margin.
During her years as Mayor she emphasized accountability, efficiency and transparency in government, all League priorities. She received national attention when she alerted city residents to imminent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids scheduled for February 2018. Then-President Trump, referring to some undocumented immigrants as “animals,” suggested the Justice Department investigate her for her role in tipping off the community. She responded, "I was sharing information in a way that was legal and was not obstructing justice, and it was an opportunity to ensure that people were aware of their rights." According to ICE’s acting director, the agency failed to arrest around 800 people because of the alert.
Schaaf co-founded the nonprofit Oakland Cares, which organized and implemented volunteer community improvement projects across the city. She serves on the Leadership Council at Kiva, a non-profit organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries.
Schaaf currently is the Interim Executive Director of Emerge California, and teaches at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. She has announced her run for CA State Treasurer in 2026.